Koreshkov survived and won the PFL. But the judge almost deprived the Russian of his vacation
Sergey Sorokin June 29, 2024, 07:15 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Andrey took advantage of his enormous experience and defeated his opponent.
On the night of June 28-29, the most interesting PFL 6 tournament took place at the Sanford Pentagon Arena in Sioux Falls (USA). Of particular interest was the fight in which Andrei Koreshkov found himself in a cage. The former Bellator champion returned to the PFL Grand Prix against Goichi Yamauchi. The Russian had an unsuccessful debut in the league, losing by unanimous decision to Magomed Umalatov. But now the Spartan was going to live up to his nickname, hoping to confuse his opponent. The second failure in a row risked being fatal.
We collect all the brightest events of the tournament:
PFL 6: Koreshkov and Umalatov win! Four Russians reach the semi-finals of the Grand Prix
Before his debut in the PFL, Koreshkov was on a five-fight winning streak. And the victory in the fight with Lorenz Larkin was especially important. But the transition to a new league was not easy. The Spartan faced his compatriot Umalatov and lost. It is even more offensive that he did not concede ahead of time, but only by a judge’s decision. True, there was not much intrigue in this fight. Therefore, all the referees sided with Magomed. And the fight at PFL 6 was supposed to show how quickly Andrei recovered from the defeat.
The Russian’s opponent was the Brazilian Goichi Yamauchi. The 31-year-old fighter managed to fight 35 professional fights. And he had an impressive 29-6 professional record. Furthermore, in four of the last five fights he managed to win. And his only defeat came in the confrontation with Michael Page. He managed to move to the UFC, where he performs simply splendidly. Therefore, it seemed that Yamauchi could become a very serious opposition to Koreshkov.
And the fight started very difficult for Andrey. The Russian was forced to endure all of Goiti’s attacks. Furthermore, after the halfway point of the first round we literally had to survive. It was especially dangerous at that moment when the Brazilian was behind the Spartan. Koreshkov managed to slip away and even landed several important blows from an awkward position. But it was clear that Andrei himself was not at all happy with this situation.
This season, PFL broadcasts are available on Okko.
But the failed first assault only spurred the Spartan, who turned the situation around completely. In the second five minutes, he knocked the Brazilian to the canvas with a magnificent attack. And then he moved on to a brutal finishing move. Yamauchi feared for his health, as the Russian literally threw him to the ground. But the judge was in no hurry to stop the fight. He waited and allowed Goichi to recover. As a result, the Brazilian was able to escape in an absolutely incredible way, hold on to the Russian and avoid an early defeat.
In the third round, the fight was much calmer. But it was still felt that the Russians were dominant. He gained courage in the second three minutes, which allowed him to control the situation. As a result, neither opponent was able to end the fight ahead of schedule. The matter came down to a judge’s decision. And again there was cause for concern. During the broadcast, one of the experts unexpectedly sided with Yamauchi. Thus, there was a danger that the referee would like the Brazilian’s restraint and patience.
And yet, this unfortunate surprise did not occur. The Russian took the victory by unanimous decision. But it is worth noting that Andrei’s team most likely still has complaints against the referee. The judge risked Yamauchi’s health too much in the second round. And the points received for the victory were not enough to qualify for the Grand Prix playoffs.
